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Forgotten Memories
NOTE: Welp, it’s been a long time since I’ve made a new fanfic, huh? So uh, warning: I am pretty much extremely rusty at this and will probably fail in making a good fanfic xD but in the slightest chance that it’ll come out good, let’s do this! Enjoy!! ~★ Forgotten Memories ★~ ~☆ Prologue ☆~ Gotcha! With a swipe of her paws, the mouse now lay lifeless on the dry grass below her. Excited, she quickly buried her caught prey in the ground and eagerly looked for more. Finally, the day had come. Cloudpaw was busy taking on her warrior assessment, and with each step she took, she felt confidence flow through her. As a squirrel scurried through the forest in front of Cloudpaw, she lunged toward it. Alarm shook her as she fell onto the ground with a loud thump!. Embarrassed, she quickly climbed back up, only to fall back down again. No, no, no! she thought anxiously. She tried again, this time with caution, and finally got back on her paws. Knowing that her mentor, Ashenwhisper, was closely watching right behind her, she quickly continued on with her hunting. Cloudpaw soon heard a rustling of her leaves, and with a jerk of her head, she saw what might have been the same squirrel that had escaped earlier. She watched it mysteriously scurry up a tree nearby. When it reached the top, she suddenly reminded herself, What are you doing? This is your warrior’s assessment. Go up and kill that squirrel! followed up with But it’s so high up! How do I catch it now? She knew there was no time to waste. Following her instincts, she mightily leaped up as high as she could and sunk her claws into the squirrel, bringing the prey down with her as she landed softly on her four paws. Wow, I didn’t know I could do that. Ashenwhisper must be proud! When the assessment was over, the apprentice worriedly padded back to camp. Did I do it? Am I going to be a ThunderClan warrior after so long of hard training even though I slipped up during my assessment? After what seemed like forever, she saw the ThunderClan leader, Pebblestar, climb onto the Highrock. “Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highrock for a Clan meeting!” he exclaimed. At this, Cloudpaw excitedly walked forward, looking up at the Clan leader. She turned around to see her mother, her eyes matching Cloudpaw’s, beaming at her. “I’m so proud of you,” she murmured in the soon-to-be warrior’s ear. Cloudpaw let out a faint squeal and turned back towards Pebblestar. “Cloudpaw, please step forward,” Pebblestar said. She did so. “I, Pebblestar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn.” He then looked down at Cloudpaw. “Cloudpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?” Cloudpaw keenly opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, she was cut off. Her Clanmates abruptly disappeared from her sight and the camp completely switched to somewhere else. Somewhere so oddly familiar, yet so vague, now surrounded the apprentice. Trees filled the area, and rocks were scattered around everywhere. Cats were leaping into the air and playing around with their fellow littermates. Cloudpaw recognized the peculiar scent of the area, but it was beyond her knowledge to know how. Why do I feel like I’ve been here before? I’ve been nowhere but ThunderClan my entire life! Forgetting about the warrior ceremony entirely, she placed a paw forward, ready to explore the familiar place. “Cloudpaw!” a voice shouted. Startled, she shook her head from side to side fiercely, only to find herself back in ThunderClan camp, in front of many, many confused warriors. Oh, no...I completely forgot! Ashamed, she quickly backed up and apologetically glanced up at Pebblestar, who looked as puzzled as ever. She sighed and let herself calm down before continuing on. “Yes,” Cloudpaw quickly said. “Yes, I do.” ~☆ Chapter One ☆~ “Cloudbreeze! Pinestorm! Ambersight! Hunting patrol! Now!” Cedartail ordered. Cloudbreeze was barely up when she was called for the morning hunting patrol, but she did her best to look like she had already been awake for a while. “Coming!” Cloudbreeze responded, followed by a loud yawn. She padded over to where Pinestorm and Ambersight already stood, waiting for her. “Hey, Cloudbreeze! Tired, huh?” Ambersight chuckled. Cloudbreeze nodded agreeingly. “Yeah, I am too,” Pinestorm mewed. “So, I was thinking we go over here to hunt.” He pointed his tail towards a group of trees. “I heard that’s where all the prey are.” “Sure!” Cloudbreeze exclaimed, Ambersight echoing her agreement. With that, the patrol headed off towards the forest. “Cloudbreeze?” Pinestorm murmured after catching a mouse that was hiding in a bush nearby. “Yeah?” Cloudbreeze looked at him, wondering what he was thinking. “What happened that day?” He simply continued. She returned a puzzled look at him as if to say, what day? “You know, your warrior’s ceremony. When you blanked out.” Ohhh, she thought. That day. She instantly looked away at her feet, trying to not think of the most embarrassing day for her. She had minded out tons of times, but that time the world she was in was so, so real. So alive. As much as she wanted to keep what had happened to herself, she knew it was rude to ignore him. So she opened her mouth to respond. But at that very moment, she felt her legs give way, and the world went dark. ~☆~☆~ Cloudbreeze slowly blinked her eyes, but instead of seeing Pinestorm and Ambersight, she saw two blurry cats standing above her. “Cloudkit! You opened your eyes! Finally!” Before she knew it, a tiny kit she didn’t recognize soared over her, bouncing up and down in excitement. “Who are you? Where am I?” Cloudbreeze, or Cloudkit apparently, sputtered out. “You’re Cloudkit! And you are in—” “Cloudbreeze! Cloudbreeze?! Wake up!” A booming voice sounded in her ear. Cloudbreeze instantly jolted upward, worried cats surrounding her. “You’re awake!” They applauded when she opened her eyes. “We were so worried! What happened?” Elmsong, the ThunderClan medicine cat, exclaimed anxiously, standing in front of her. “I don’t…” the confused warrior paused, taking in all that happened. “I don’t know.” What was wrong with her lately? First the warrior ceremony, now this? And apparently this time she also passed out along with the peculiar dream? What was going on? “Well, good thing is, you’re alive,” Ambersight stated, her voice full of relief. “We were hunting, chatting, and then all of a sudden you’re unconscious!” she exclaimed. Pinestorm nodded. “Yep,” Cloudbreeze sighed. If her friends weren’t around, she would’ve already slapped herself in the face for what was happening. Seriously, what was wrong with her lately? “Cloudbreeze, we’re going to keep you in my den for a little while. Is that ok?” Elmsong asked. Cloudbreeze wanted to object, but she knew that Elmsong wasn’t really asking a question; she was going to have to stay in the medicine cat den no matter what she answered with. So she responded with a tiny nod of her head. ~☆ Chapter Two ☆~ Let this day be normal. Please. Cloudbreeze looked up at StarClan first thing at sunhigh, praying that no strange happenings would take place like the days before. Please. “You good?” Elmsong asked from beside her. She looked at the medicine cat with her dreary eyes and nodded slowly. Elmsong returned the nod, and continued to sort her herbs. Cloudbreeze burst out in tears as soon as Elmsong turned away, her heart crying out. I should be out there, hunting with the other warriors and playing with the newborn kits. I shouldn’t be stuck in this medicine den all for a couple stupid, cursed dreams! “I’m fine, Elmsong. I’m completely fine,” Cloudbreeze muttered harshly, making sure it was loud enough for her to hear. She turned to Cloudbreeze, her expression shocked at Cloudbreeze’s mean tone. “Cloudbreeze!” She heard Rainshadow, her mother, yell out her name. “Be nice!” “I’m not a kit, mom,” she sneered. She watched Rainshadow step back, upset. And with that, Cloudbreeze sprinted away as fast as she could, out of the medicine cat’s den, and into the woods. ~☆~☆~ Breathing heavily, Cloudbreeze gradually slowed down when she got as far away as she could from ThunderClan camp.'' I just need some fresh air, that’s all.'' She padded over to a nearby lake and watched her reflection smile back at her. She continued to walk around the area, making sure to disguise her scent. She’d never been out of ThunderClan territory before, except for Gatherings. She’d been so careful during past times not to pass the border accidentally when she got close to it as well. The trees looked so much bigger from the ones in ThunderClan camp, and there were a lot more, too. Since she basically just escaped all four of the Clans entirely by running the direction opposite of the three other Clans, it was a lot more silent than what she was used to. Where she was now, she could rest and listen to the birds chirp and the bugs chitter loudly. It was a time of peace. As the day went on, she caught some prey for herself to eat, and after a while she was enjoying being alone. Before, she had never understood why loners wanted to be alone for their entire lives, but now, she was beginning to enjoy it herself. Cloudbreeze looked back at the direction of ThunderClan camp, a tear forming in her eye. Half of her heart urged her to go back, to her family, her friends. But the other half ordered her paws to stay put, and soon enough, she turned back around. I won’t be back for a while. I won’t be back until they find me themselves. With this thought in mind, she ran even deeper into the forest. ~☆ Chapter Three ☆~ “Cloudbreeze! Come back!” Rainshadow called out, growling. She felt her claws unsheath into the dirt below her in frustration. How could she let Cloudbreeze run away like that? “Let her,” Elmsong sighed, looking at her angry friend. “It would’ve been impossible to stop her once she’d started. I guess she’s just frustrated, that’s all.” She turned around to start sorting out some herbs she’d collected recently, only to see Irispaw, her apprentice, standing there with a puzzled expression. “It’s nothing,” the medicine cat quickly mewed. “Don’t worry about it.” Irispaw nodded her head, even though she still looked as confused as she did before. Together, they padded into the medicine cat’s den and began to sort out the herbs. After several minutes had passed, Irispaw suddenly spoke, breaking the silence between the two. “You sure it’s nothing?” she mewed, responding to the previous statement. “Cloudbreeze wouldn’t have run away like that if it was nothing.” Elmsong shook her head. “Trust me. It’s no big deal,” she lied. “I’m sure she’ll come back before we know it.” After the herbs were sorted, the medicine cat quickly padded to Pebblestar to report to him about Cloudbreeze. “Pebblestar?” she called when she got to his den. “I need to tell you something urgent.” Pebblestar nodded his head to signal for the worried medicine cat to go on. Elmsong told him everything she knew, and about how Cloudbreeze mysteriously and suddenly burst out with anger. She then covered up that she had no idea why and where she was at this point in time. Pebblestar gave her a long, hard stare. Finally, he declared, “We will give her until sunhigh to return. If she doesn’t by then, we will send out a search party to get her.” Elmsong dipped her head to show she understood and walked away anxiously. “So? What did he say?” Rainshadow eagerly said as soon as she spotted the medicine cat coming out of the leader’s den. “He decided that we’ll wait until sunhigh, and if Cloudbreeze isn’t back by then, we’ll start sending out search parties,” Elmsong responded. “For now, we should probably keep what happened as secret as possible just in case she does come back. We don’t want any unnecessary worrying in ThunderClan.” Rainshadow nodded. “I hope she does.” I do, too, Elmsong replied in her thoughts. I really do. ~☆ Chapter Four ☆~ Cloudbreeze eyes drooped down to the ground that was lying beneath her. Here I am, she thought, looking around at the scenery. Alone. She turned her head slightly towards the path she had come from and quickly shook her head. I can’t go back there. Not now. Even though she had no plans whatsoever to return, she still had a tingling feeling in her that hoped that everyone there will remain okay. That no one would care too much to go out risking their lives looking for her. Cloudbreeze’s vision drifted over to the setting sun in the distant horizon, a tiny bit of hunger sinking into her. She padded into a set of trees nearby and quickly swiped a paw at a squirrel scurrying around. This is perfect. You don’t even have to wait to eat. Suddenly, the rustle of the leaves filled Cloudbreeze’s ears. Her eyes widened, her head anxiously turning around back and forth. “Who’s there?” she squealed, her paws scrambling away from the bushes nearby. “Sorry,” a voice rang out. “Didn’t mean to scare ya.” The leaves in front of Cloudbreeze parted to reveal three cats of different colors hiding in the forest. “Who...who are you?” Cloudbreeze stammered, still skeptical of what was happening. Could these three be trusted? “Oh, I’m Ciara,” the dark gray one greeted. “This is Ciana and Zapper,” she continued, her tail pointing to each of the two as she spoke. The two dipped their heads, their unmoving eyes staring at her, echoing her suspicion. “Well? What about you? I’ve never seen you around,” Ciana mewed as she stepped towards the warrior. “I was almost certain I knew every cat in the area.” Should I tell them? Cloudbreeze franticly thought. Should I tell them I’m a Clan cat? They smell of rogue scent, after all. What if they hurt me when they find out? Her mind spiraled through thought after thought. No. I can’t tell them. I have no plans to return, anyway. “I’m Cloud,” she lied, hoping they would believe her. “I just recently settled around here, so it makes sense that you don’t know me.” “Cloud?” Zapper scoffed. “Such an innocent name.” At this, Ciana and Ciara glared at him. “What? I’m a rogue. I can say what I want.” The two she-cats whispered something in his ear, their voices so carefully hidden Cloudbreeze couldn’t make out a single word. “Oh. Well, nice to meet you!” he exclaimed, his voice cracking and his body cringing. Cloudbreeze stayed silent, still not trusting the three rogues. She slightly waved her paw, and then quickly set it back down. “I’m assuming you’re a loner, correct?” Ciana suddenly spoke. “You don’t seem to be with anyone.” Cloudbreeze nodded.'' I guess I’m officially a loner now? Then she thoroughly studied the looks on their faces. ''Or maybe not. Maybe they’ll— “Do you want to join our group?” Ciara offered, breaking Cloudbreeze’s thoughts. Huh? When did they become suddenly nice? This must be a trap. Moments ago, they acted as if they were going to murder me, maybe not through their words, but at least through their actions, right there and then. But you never know. “Sure.” ~☆ Chapter Five ☆~ TBA